MANILA – Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos hit $14.6 billion in the first 6 months of the year, up 3.2 percent from the same period in 2018, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Thursday.
For June,
however, cash remittances fell 2.9 percent to $2.3 billion compared to the same
month in 2018.
The BSP said the decline was mainly due to lower remittances from Saudi Arabia
and Qatar.
Personal remittances, including those in kind and house-to-house transfers, reached $16.3 billion in the first half, higher by 2.9 percent than the same period last year.
The United States remained the biggest source of remittances, followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, the UK, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany and Qatar.
Combined remittances from these countries accounted for 78 percent of total cash remittances from Jan. to June 2019, the BSP said.
The Philippines is one of the biggest recipients of remittances, which power domestic consumption and drive the economy. (ABS-CBN News)
